Skipper’s Seafood’n Chowder House

I am a huge fan of skippers. I love the fish, fries, clam strips, and the clam chowder is out of this world. The tarter sauce is my favorite. I even buy it to take home and have with my fish at home. Service is always so nice. The prices are a little steep but check out the family meals.

Skippers is to me what White Castle is to others. Its greasy, iconic, nostalgic and canned. Just fabulous.
I’ve eaten here since I was little and yes, my family loved the All-​You-​Can-​Eat Special that was always available. For those who’ve never been, this is like an Ivars, only the quality isn’t as good as Ivar’s. Yeah, it’s pretty bad.
For those who live near amazing seafood, going here is ridiculous. But growing up in the remote foodie island of NW Montana where seafood is special teaches you to love places like this.
Yes, my friends make fun of me for it. I don’t care. I love the chowder, clam strips, fries, unlimited tartar sauce and coleslaw.
This one is like most others. A little dirty and shady. I’m happy it’s still around :-)

Zero stars… this was my first visit to skippers. I walked in with a friend and while viewing the menu several others walked in and the cook cashier took one order and had a melt down. He completely ignored us and after serving an order to guests in the dining room slammed the serving tray on the prep counter. In a very loud angry voice announced to all that he couldn’t believe how the place could be empty and then the whole town walks in. There were only 4 of us in line before we headed straight out the door.

It is bad, not clean, food terrible and service people were grumpy. Will never go back again!

Had the two piece fish platter with chowder. Food was served hot. Fish was cripy on the outside and moist inside. Service was great. Will stop in again when we are in town.

I don’t get to The Dalles as much as I used to, but when I do I stop by here. I’m not sure what it is, but I just love their fried fish. It’s simple, it’s plain, it’s crispy, and the flavor is pretty good.
This location has been cleaned up a lot since I was last here. It seems much brighter, and is in a better state or repair than when I was last here about a year or so ago. The TV in the lobby is a nice touch.

For years The Wife and I have bought Skippers sauces in the store, the cocktail and the tartar, we never gave much thought to them having restaurants. The other day I was driving through The Dalles and looking for lunch. I droned on passed the usual McThis and Burger That and Quizway sandwiches and Jack in the Bell as well as diners, drive-​ins and dives. Up ahead I saw Skippers, I thought some fish & chips might be nice and made an executive decision and dropped in.
It was a «order up front and then sit down» kind of place, so I scanned the menu and happened across the Skippers Platter, a piece of fish, some shrimp and fried clam strips. I added some hush puppies for fun and a soda. I walked over to the soda fountain that had eight spigots and of course, only one diet option. Despair. I sighed a heavy sigh and filled my glass with a chemical cocktail that makes kidney stones figuring one every now and then wouldn’t kill me.
From there you step to a kind of prep area, they have the vinegars there and the sauces, napkins, straws… so I loaded up some paper cups with tartar and cocktail sauce, grabbed a garlic vinegar and a malt vinegar and sat down at a rickety old table. The booths looked very small, and I am not, so I opted for a table with a chair.
The wait wasn’t very long before a well-​used plastic tray arrived with my platter, which was actually in a basket but I don’t think I’ll sue for false advertising this week. I didn’t know you could make a hush puppy that small, maybe it was a Chihuahua sized hush puppy? Good thing you get three for 79 cents. I got a good sized piece of fish, about 8 shrimp and a bunch of clams plus a little cup of cole slaw. I grabbed the garlic vinegar, since that sounded good and shook some over the breading. No flavor. No garlic tang, no vinegar taste, nothing. I shook some in my palm… tasteless. I took it back to the gondola of condiments and used the malt vinegar, which was quite tasty.
The food was okay, nothing blew me away but nothing repulsed me either. The cole slaw was serviceable; the Colonel has a better one at KFC. The fries were pretty good and the fish was fast food fish, about what I expected. I was full, my wallet wasn’t emptied by the meal and the bathroom was very clean. What more could you want from fast seafood in The Dalles?

Can I do ZERO stars? This place is HELL. The built in grime and filth should have steered me right out of the door, however I was dumb enough to continue on my journey for a sample of Chowdah. The trays have been in circulation since the 70’s and are sticky, when I asked them when they were cleaned last… «Oh they are all like that, they are old». Come on! They should not stick to your hand… Yuck. Over priced and dirty. Do not ever go there. GROSS… Looking for my roll of TP now.